I Never Asked You To Be Perfect
by Procrastination Attacked
Summary: Princess Bubblegum has just inherited the throne after her father's tragic death. Marceline catches wind of the news, and seeks her old friend. The nature of their relationship starts to change as Marceline's presence becomes more frequent, while Bubblegum has to deal with her father's death, her scientific research, and the pressures of the throne.
1. Futility and frustration

"Next!"

The voice echoed clearly though the Grand Hall, followed by the sound of the steps of both the Candy Person that was on its way out of the palace, and those of the next one in the great line that filled most of the large space the hall had to offer, swirling like a great, colorful snake.

The line started a few steps away from the throne, upon which sat the princess. Graceful and poised, as was taught to her all her life, she patiently listened to the complaints of every citizen that approached her after waiting long hours, and, in many cases, traveling great distances to see her.

As a shy, light blue cupcake came up to bow before the monarch, her head pounded. It was her fourth day listening to the Candy People, and still their numbers barely seemed to dwindle. She controlled her urge to massage her temples as the candy person bowed respectfully, saying:

"It is an honor to stand before you, dear Princess Bubblegum"

"It is my honor to serve the people"

All of the people she had listened to so far had said either that exact sentence or a slight variation after approaching the throne, and she was forced by royal etiquette to give the same response to each and every one. After that whole ordeal ended, the first thing on her list of priorities was to banish the traditional royal greeting. Oh how she wished it would be over already.

She carefully positioned her gaze to appear as if she was paying full attention to what was being said to her, while she checked the line's extension. She almost let out a sigh after seeing it, but she held it. Etiquette.

She really wanted to hear what the people had to say about the kingdom's condition, but most of them so far only rained praise over her lineage, gave their condolences to her, or placed their trust on the princess' just and benevolent rule, even before she had had time to do anything.

Her father, King Gumball, had died a month before, of the same illness that had taken the queen's life several years before him, leaving their daughter, of seventeen at the time, to inherit the throne.

All the formalities had taken up a good part of the month, and only a week before had the new monarch been able to announce her first act as ruler: a kingdom-wide hearing, giving any of the Candy People the opportunity to tell the princess directly what troubled them, helping her take measures to improve the general welfare. So far, not even a dozen of the citizens had real complaints to give, and those that did complained of such small or absurd things, that she had no choice but to give a purposely vague and polite answer and send them off.

The cupcake was finishing speaking, and so far not a single complaint was made. When she was through, they exchanged the expected pleasantries, and the citizen excitedly walked away. As the next in line was clumsily making its way to the throne, the princess raised her hand.

"I shall take my leave for lunch, and we will resume the hearings in the afternoon. The castle staff have prepared a snack if you'd like to stay through lunch. Excuse me."

The princess got up, made the royal farewell, and exited through the back door as the Candy People applauded. Peppermint Butler was soon by her side, in his usual peppy self, offering her a glass of water and saying:

"Princess, the castle's food reserves are starting to run short, having to cater for all these people on the past days."

The princess took a moment, enjoying the cool water down her throat, before answering:

"I'll handle it after lunch, Peppermint Butler."

"As you wish, princess. Will you have it in your room, as usual?", he said, taking the empty glass.

"I will. Thank you."

She continued alone on her way to her bedroom, as Peppermint Butler scuttled away to the kitchen.

As soon as she closed the door behind her, she locked it and let out a long sigh. She leaned her back on the door, as if behind it was all the problems she was already facing as new ruler, and rubbed her hurting temples, alleviating the throbbing headache. She closed her eyes and slid to the ground, where she sat only long enough to remember that if she wrinkled her dress, she'd have to pick a new one for the afternoon hearing.

She got up, headed for her closet, and picked out a simple gown. She removed her crown and spent a few seconds staring at it, slowly rubbing the polished metal. She sighed again, and placed it on the closet, changing clothes and carefully hanging the dress for later. The soft fabric had just settled on her body and she was reaching for the crown, when she heard:

"Woah there, am I interrupting the royal nap, your highness?"

The princess turned swiftly, ready to call out for the guards, when she saw her floating near the window. The long, black hair flowed gently with the breeze, wild and free like the girl herself. Her mouth was a devilish smile, her fangs pointing out. She held a purple umbrella in an apparent carefree way, as if it wasn't vital to her protection from the sunlight that would burn her skin. She was poised as if she was leaning on the windowsill, but she was actually levitating just above it.

"Are you gonna just stare, or invite me in?"

The princess rushed to the window and pulled the visitor in, hugging her tightly, tears running down her face. The umbrella rolled away on the floor as they floated, embraced, for a few seconds, before the vampire put her down and pulled away gently, holding the other's face with her hands, clearing her tears with her thumbs as she said, with her smooth voice:

"Hey, what's up with the tears? I know my visits rock, but there's no need to get all emotional"

The princess smiled sadly, and reached for the visitor's cold hands, pulling them from her face and holding them both on her own.

"Oh Marceline, how I've missed you. Things have been so crazy these past few weeks."

"Yeah, I heard about a fuss here, so I came to check it out. Heard you're queen now, how did that happen?"

The princess squeezed Marceline's hands, the painful memory holding her heart in a cold grasp, the tears starting to roll again. She started shaking, and Marceline quickly picked her up and lead her to the bed, sitting her down and holding her shoulders, realization dawning on her as the princess sobbed.

"I'm so sorry Bonnie, I just thought the old man had given you the throne, I didn't think— Urgh, I'm so terrible at this! If I had known I'd have come sooner, I'd—"

Bubblegum let out a little laugh, and dried her tears on her sleeve, turning to face Marceline's worried gaze.

"It's alright, you're here now, and that makes me feel better already."

Marceline smiled, but she remained quiet. The princess knew her well enough to know what was on her mind.

"It was the disease. The same as my mother's."

Surprised by Bubblegum's correct guess of her thoughts, she said:

"I'm sorry. I know how worse that makes it." There was a pause. "Have you—"

"No", she interrupted, pulling away, "I haven't found out a thing. I have no idea how they contracted it, how it affected them, and how it kill—"

She turned away, trying not to break into tears again, her hands rushing to her temples as they were already starting to hurt again.

Marceline raised a hand to touch her, but backed away. She opened her mouth to say something, when there was a knock on the door.

"Your lunch, princess!" said a squeaky voice.

"You have to go", said Bubblegum, with her face still turned away from Marceline, "you know you make the Candy People nervous".

Marceline was ready to lash out on her, but she controlled herself, keeping Bubblegum's situation in mind. She gently floated off the bed, picked up her umbrella, and headed for the window, turning to say before she left:

"I'll drop by later".

The princess waited until she was sure she had left, and whispered to herself _"please do"_, before wiping her tears one last time and answering the door.

**Author's Note:**

This a little something that came to my mind as I was thoroughly discussing the nature of PB's rule and the Candy Kingdom with a friend over dinner, like grown-ups do. Her relationship was brought up as well, so I decided to mix them up and see what happens. This is going to be a series of short stories, some directly connected, some not, about what's in the description. If you enjoyed it, give me feedback, any, please, even if it's bad. I need it to keep motivated to write. Thank you for reading.

(Oh, and I know the title is not a direct quote from "What Was Missing", but it just fit better that way)


	2. Memories and the moonlight

The afternoon passed by with the same level of monotony that the morning did, and soon it was nightfall. The princess called off the fourth day of hearings, announcing that people who intended to spend lunch in the castle on the following day were advised to bring snacks, for they would no longer be served by the castle staff. That should solve the food problem. Peppermint Butler praised her solution as he accompanied her out of the hall, telling her about the dinner menu. When they reached an intersection of hallways, she stopped, saying politely:

"I'm sorry, but I'll just skip dinner tonight. It was a very tiring day and I just need some rest."

"Very well, princess. I'll see to it that you aren't disturbed."

His response was a little surprising, since she wasn't customarily disturbed after turning in for the day. Still, she answered, smiling softly:

"Thank you, Peppermint Butler."

She parted ways with the faithful servant, and went the hallway to her room as he went to the kitchens.

Her head war hurting more than before, but she was barely aware of the pain as she quickly made her way to the room. As soon as she opened the door, she saw her there, floating upside down, staring at the ceiling with her arms crossed over her chest, her hair slightly brushing the carpet as she moved. Bubblegum only had a second to observe her, as she heard the door opening and turned fast to face the princess.

They stared at each other, Marceline analyzing her face to determine her state of mind. Bubblegum closed the door and averted the vampire queen's gaze, staring at the ground as she said:

"I'm sorry about before. It was a stressful morning and so many things have happened, I didn't mean to lash out on you. I'm sorry, Marce."

She rarely used the old nickname, and she hoped it would help make things better.

"Hey, I can't be mad at you, with all the crazy stuff you've been through."

Apparently, it had worked. She lifted her gaze to meet Marceline's, who was floating near the bed, as if sitting on the air just above it.

"So, what's with all the people in the palace?"

The princess spoke as she walked to the closet, removing her crown for the last time that day, glad to have the weight of it off her head:

"I called a kingdom-wide hearing, to evaluate the state of the Candy People."

She opened the closet door, which obstructed her vision from the bed, and from Marceline as well, who laughed and said:

"That is so you."

Bubblegum picked a gown for the night, and set it aside, going instead for her favorite pajamas. She changed, using the door as cover, while she answered Marceline:

"How so?"

"You know, you put this ton of effort to do something you could ask someone else to do for you. It's like you forget you're the princess."

"Well, I felt like I needed a more personal approach, so the people could trust me. Besides," she said, finishing changing clothes, picking up the dress from the hanger she left it and closing the door, "you are _queen_ of the vampires, and I don't see you making use of the benefits inherent to the title."

"Aw, you know I just like to use it to scare people, it's not like I do any of the duties—" she stopped mid-sentence, and noticed what Bubblegum was wearing, "No way."

The princess blushed a little and smiled, taking the dress to the closet across the room to hang it where it belonged. Marceline continued:

"I can't believe you still wear it!"

"It actually fits me now."

"Yeah, it does."

Marceline stared at the princess' pajamas in the dim light of the pink room, and the memories came rushing in.

She could remember it perfectly. She was on one of her travels through the extent of Ooo, revisiting places she hadn't been to in a long time, when she came across the Candy Kingdom. She had been there a while before, and remembered that the prince was a cool guy, even though he was almost as on edge as the usual Candy Person around her, so she decided to pay the royal family a visit.

She went straight to the castle, and she could hear music coming out of it. She busted through the doors, yelling:

"Gumball! Is there a party going on?"

The music stopped with an unpleasant sound, as the musicians missed notes in their surprise. Every Candy Person in the room was staring at her in silence, as were the king, queen, and a little girl in a pink dress. None of them were familiar, until the king spoke, with sudden realization on his face:

"Ma-Marceline..? Is that you?"

She floated in the air for a while, actually feeling embarrassed, something that didn't happen often. She realized it had been over twenty years since her last visit.

Regaining her composure, she floated to the table where the royal family was sitting, at the end of the hall, as if nothing had happened, and greeted the king:

"It has been ages! I like your beard."

The room was completely silent, and the royal family seemed paralyzed in shock.

"Th-thank… You?"

Gumball snapped out of his trance and reminded himself that he was over forty years old, the king, and had all his subjects before him. He cleared his throat, stood up and said:

"Y-yes, thank you, Marceline, Queen of the Vampires!"

The king's composure helped calm the Candy People a little, avoiding an incident, but the mention of Marceline's title put them back on edge.

"Aw, no need for the formalities. So, are you going to introduce me or?"

She referenced the rest of the family with a tilt of her head, and the king also remembered he was married, had a child, and that his subjects were still all before him:

"Yes, of course, pardon me. Queen—" her gaze made him change his mind "I mean, Marceline. Marceline, this is my wife, Bettibel."

The queen was pretty. Maybe too dolled up for the vampire's taste, with her hair in a weird, formal do and wearing a fancy royal dress. She smiled politely, and made a small curtsy. Her smile, albeit small and contained, as was expected for her position, was very gentle and sincere. Marceline could tell she was loved and respected as a queen. She seemed like a nice person.

"And this is my daughter, Bonniebel"

Marceline looked down at the little princess in her dainty pink dress. The child had a firm grip on her mother's dress with one of her hands, but still she stared at Marceline, curious and scared at the same time. Her mother placed a hand on her back, and said:

"Come on now dear, how do we greet other royals?"

The princess let go of her mother's dress and imitated her mother's curtsy, only faster, quickly reaching for the dress again when she was done.

Marceline laughed and said:

"Hey kid, I'm Marceline. How old are you?"

The princess hesitated before letting go of the dress, to show Marceline an open palm and three extended fingers.

"Eight? Wow, you're so big! I'm a _thousand_ years old myself, give or take a few."

Bonniebel smiled a little and Marceline did as well, turning to her father afterwards, saying:

"Well, it's been nice, but I should be on my way."

There was a collective sigh of relief that Marceline pretended not to notice. What she did notice as the king started nervously saying a formal farewell was a pile of gifts to the side of the table.

"Wait, I almost forgot," she interrupted the king, and the tension in the room returned, "I have a present for the princess."

Everyone waited as Marceline dug around her backpack until she found something that could pass for a gift.

"Ha! Here."

Instead of adding to the pile, she handed her gift directly to the princess.

"My favorite pajamas. Take good care of them."

The princess held the bundle of clothing as well as she could, and shook her head affirmatively.

After a moment of silence, the king cleared his throat and said:

"Thank you, Marceline, for your kind gift. As I was saying, we hope you'll grace our kingdom with your presence again."

"I just might, G-Ball." She partially turned her head to generally face the Candy People, faking a menacing look. "I just might."

Laughing out loud, she quickly floated away, leaving the castle far behind her. She was already high in the air when the music started coming from it again.

The princess sat on the bed, and the noise snapped Marceline out of her memories. She turned to face Bonnibel, who was hugging one of the pillows. The moonlight coming through the window hit the pajamas, and she saw all the little black bats on the white pants and shirt, exactly as she remembered them.

"Were you remembering something?" Bubblegum said, pretending she didn't already know.

"Yeah," responded Marceline, smiling fondly, "Your father's face when I gave you those was—"

She suddenly remembered Gumball's death, and looked at Bubblegum with sorry eyes, but she wasn't crying. She looked sad, and held the pillow tighter, but she didn't cry. She said, looking at the pillow:

"It's alright, you can talk about him. I just got so caught up in everything I had kind of forgotten about him, so when you mentioned him earlier… Well, I like remembering him. I think you remember some things better than I do, so please," she looked up, meeting Marceline's worried gaze, "talk about him, when you want."

The vampire smiled, and came closer, touching the princess' arm:

"I miss him too, Bonnie. I don't know if I ever told you this, but your father and I go way back."

"You never did", said Bubblegum, surprised.

"We met when he was a little older than you are now, he had just become king."

"Father never told me he inherited the throne so young."

"Yeah, he was pretty young for a king. Though you could barely tell, the guy was already all business even back then. I guess it was a good thing, because I messed with him all the time."

Bubblegum smiled, and said:

"Really?"

"Trust me, G-Ball would get so nervous around me! This one time I crashed one of his dinner parties…"

Marceline told the princess all the stories about the time she spent with King Gumball in his first month as ruler, and the things she'd do to make him uncomfortable.

"…I swear his face was completely red when he realized I was behind him the whole time. It even made me hungry." Marceline said while she wiped tears of laughter of her cheek. "He eventually figured out a way to rule without being distracted by my… well, distractions, so I took off. I didn't see him again until your birthday party."

Bubblegum was taking deep breaths after laughing too hard. She said, wiping her own tears:

"He liked you, you know. Even though you made him nervous and teased him, I could see that he enjoyed your company. You were a nice break from the royal duties."

Marceline fiddled with her hair, smiling fondly, remembering Gumball. She had lost several people through her long lifetime, but it never got easier. She found that the best thing to do was try to remember the good times, and try to live with the pain.

"I enjoy your company too, Marce."

She looked up, and saw Bubblegum smiling at her. There, in the moonlit room, she realized for the first time how older she seemed. It had been only a year since her last visit, but Bonnie seemed so much more mature. Maybe her father's disease forced her to grow.

Marceline looked away, and said:

"I'm sorry I wasn't here for you. I wish I could've said goodbye to him…"

The princess sighed, and said:

"The past is past, there's nothing we can do about it. And I think it's best that you didn't see him. The disease… It isn't pretty. I know now why he didn't let me see my mother back then. He wanted me to remember her at her best, not her worst."

"And you should do the same for him." She reached out and held the princess' hand, smiling. "He would've wanted you to remember him as he was, not as what the disease made of him."

Bubblegum smiled back at Marceline, admiring her complexion in the moonlight. They stayed there in silence for a while, before the vampire seemed to notice something and said:

"Wow, it's late, you should get some rest."

She started getting off the bed, when Bubblegum reached out and grabbed her arm. Before she could say anything, Marceline said:

"I'll be back soon."

The princess held the arm tighter, without saying anything, and the memory of the little girl holding her mother's dress came to Marceline's mind.

"I will."

Bubblegum let go, and watched her float away into the night.

She laid on the bed and held the pillow tightly, trying her best to convince herself that this time would be different, that Marceline would stay.

She needed her to.

**Author's Note**

****Phew, this one's a little longer. I'll be using "~" to mark flashbacks or maybe other changes in perspective. "The princess' pajamas" sounds silly, but bear with me. I was cracking my head thinking of names for the royal family, when I decided Gumball and Bubblegum are royal surnames, and the ruling king, queen, prince and/or princess just uses it. I'm sorry if I conflict your headcanons (or the canon, oops, IDK), but this was easier.

Again, feedback is more than welcome. Have an interesting story seed? Send it my way, if it's something I can fit into the general thing I'm going for, I'll write it, and give you credit, of course. Thank you for reading!


	3. The Scientist

The scientist's eyes watched the drop of transparent liquid slowly form on the tip of the dropper she was holding, and then quickly fall to join the red solution inside the glass beaker.

"_Twenty"_, she counted mentally.

As expected, the red liquid started shifting with the addition of the last drop, slowly acquiring a darker hue.

The scientist's expectations grew, and she held her breath. The solution reached the hue that would indicate a success of the experiment, and she briefly thought she had finally made it, but then it darkened some more, and soon it was black. She let the air out in a tired and disappointed sigh and started cleaning up the experiment.

She discarded her gloves and put on a new pair, and was setting up for her next try, when there was a knock on the lab door.

"Come in", she said, over her shoulder, while she continued her preparations.

She heard the door opening and closing, punctuated by the sound of little steps. She didn't have to ask who it was – only one person in the castle had permission to go into her lab.

Peppermint Butler's voice came from behind:

"Princess, lunch will be served in a few minutes. Should I make the usual arrangements?"

The scientist stopped what she was doing and let out a small sigh, responding while she removed her gloves and went to wash her hands in one of the sinks:

"No thank you, Peppermint Butler. I will join the castle staff for lunch today."

Had the princess been looking around, she'd have noticed the faintest smile on the servant's face, which disappeared as he said the next thing he had to say:

"Also, I have a message for you, princess." He hesitated. "It's from her."

Bubblegum stopped her thorough washing of her hands and her eyes widened. The room fell silent, except for the sound of the running water coming from the faucet.

Marceline had been gone for a week. For the past seven nights, the princess had stayed up as long as her exhausted body would allow, reading or just staring out the window, waiting. The hearings had ended five days before, with a lot of the Candy People apparently feeling discouraged to make the trip to the castle without the prospect of a free snack prepared by the staff, leaving Bubblegum with nothing to show for them but a headache and a growing conviction that the Candy People had no idea what was best for the kingdom.

One good thing had come out of Marceline's absence: having already read all her favorite books twice, Bubblegum turned to her research logs, from when she completely invested herself in finding out more about her mother's mysterious disease. Information on it was scarce, as her mother was the only recorded case she could find, but still she had tried her best to research similar cases and pathogens, and had drawn some conclusions from it.

She dropped the research after hitting a dead end due to the lack of information, but, as she realized in one of her late nights of waiting, there was a new piece in play. Though it was painful to think, her father had perished to the same disease, she knew that for sure, since she had ordered the doctor to tell her that. She had needed to know, even though it made her suffer even more back then. In hindsight, it had been for the best.

For the past three nights she read what she had wrote years before, and made corrections with the knowledge she had acquired since then, drawing new conclusions in the process. The previous night, she had gone through the entirety of her research, and a part of her, the part that craved knowledge, was eager to make more advances. The part of her that had hopes for Marceline's return each day, and had them crushed each night, also encouraged her to dive into her research. And so she did.

She asked the doctor for any genetic residue from her father, from when he was sick, and obtained enough to continue her work. She had expected the research to make her feel worse about his death, but approaching it in an entirely scientific manner helped her cope, as it helped distract her from Marceline's absence. Until now.

She was a little surprised about Peppermint Butler's way of giving the message, but she had known the servant for all her life, and had begun to understand he was more than met the eye, these past few weeks. Still, she recovered her composure and said:

"Is it in writing?"

"Yes, princess." He took a closed letter from his pocket, and placed it on one of the tables.

"Did she deliver it herself?" She avoided looking at him or the letter as she spoke, turning the tap off and drying her hands.

"In a manner, princess. I wouldn't like to get into the details of it, unless you order me to, your highness."

Bubblegum considered it for a bit, but figured that if Peppermint, being as loyal as he was, didn't want to discuss it, she'd let him be.

"Very well. Is there anything else?"

"No, princess."

"Then thank you, Peppermint Butler. You're dismissed."

"We'll be waiting for you for lunch, princess."

He made a small bow, and left the lab, shutting the door behind him.

The princess hanged her lab coat, checked her lab to make sure she didn't leave any experiments running, and left, locking the door behind her.

The letter remained on the table.

**Author's Note**

I'm so sorry to tease you guys (I'm totally not), but this is just a short interlude before the official chapter 3. This fic has received more attention than I could hope to get so soon, and I'm really thriled. I make a commitment as of now to try my best to update every week, and to let you guys know if I've abandoned the fic (let's hope it doesn't come to that). As usual, feedback is more than appreciated (every time I see someone has followed or reviewed the story, I remember that I should be writing it, so we have that), and thank you so much for reading. I'm sorry for the angst that's about to come (still totally not sorry).

EDIT (15/07/12): I no longer consider this an interlude. I don't think it really fits what an interlude actually is, and it's being bugging me like you have no idea. Consider this chapter 3.1, and I'm still deciding if the next one is going to be half-sized like this one and I'll just say I've slip the chapter and publish ir earlier, or if it will full length and I'll publish it later and lose my grasp on any sense of logic in these updates. Ramble ramble


	4. Breakthrough

The sound of glass against metal filled the air, as the scientist, who was also the princess, prepared another try at the experiment that was necessary to advance her research on the disease that had taken both her parents' life.

Lunch had gone by in a blur of polite nods and absent mindedness as her thoughts kept drifting away to the letter that she had received earlier. Not only the letter itself, but the person who had sent it, and, most importantly, how she felt about it all. Had Marceline written an apology, would she take it? Had she written to tell she was going to be away for even longer, would that make her feel worse? Had she written to tell that she would be "dropping by" that night, what would she do?

As the people at the table finished eating, she hadn't yet come to an answer. So, she decided that, if thinking about it didn't do any good, she would occupy herself with something else. And so she came back to her lab after lunch, set the letter in a corner, and dove into the experiments again.

At first it was hard ignoring the letter, as her curious nature was provoked by the sealed envelope, but as she started the routine of setting up the beakers and test tubes, and mixing the solutions, it became easier.

She made notes on the properties of her failed experiment, and tried again with some alterations. Although she obtained similar results, she continued the cycle, and after several tries, it happened.

As she added the transparent liquid to the solution, she braced herself for another failure, already listing in her mind what she'd need for the next try and the alterations she'd make. But as the last drop hit the red liquid, something different happened: nothing.

As opposed to the usual reaction of darkening the liquid until it was beyond the desire hue that characterized a success, it just remained as it was.

The scientist's mind started rushing as she carefully wrote down the specifics of the experiment. Even though it wasn't the perfect result, it was a sign that she was on the right track, and gave her enough information to start secondary testing on the components used.

She spent the afternoon experimenting upon what she had discovered, making more advances than she could hope to make so soon. She was far from finding a cure for the disease, but she was on her way.

The hours passed by as she tried new experiments and discovered more and more. Her work was only briefly interrupted by a knock on the door. Since she was in the middle of one of the new experiments, she just shouted a permission to come in over her shoulder and continued working. Peppermint Butler's voice came from behind her, after a little hesitation:

"Princess, dinner is going to be served soon. Are you going to join us again? Or should I send something special to your room?"

A wrinkle appeared on the princess' forehead, as she said, continuing the experiment:

"Something special? Is there an occasion?"

There was a moment of silence, than Peppermint Butler's voice came from behind her, unsure:

"Um, I guess not, princess, I'm sorry. You will be joining us then?"

Bubblegum continued working, too invested to give much thought to what Peppermint had said. After finishing a crucial part, she let it rest, giving the solution time to react, and turned to face Peppermint. She was smiling without realizing it, as she said:

"I don't know how long I'll be here, I made some breakthroughs and I would hate to halt my progress. You can eat without me; I don't want to hold you."

Peppermint's expression shifted from apprehensive to curious, as he said:

"Breakthroughs, princess?"

Bubblegum's smile widened, as she said:

"I think I can do it, Peppermint. I think I can find a cure."

The servant smiled, and his eyes started tearing up.

"I know how much this means to you, princess. I'm sure they would be very proud of you."

She started tearing up herself, but held the tears, remembering the amount of work it'd take to clean them off, given the safety measures of the lab.

The servant took out a small handkerchief and dried his eyes, saying afterwards:

"I'll make sure there is a snack waiting for you when you go to your room, princess."

"Thank you, Peppermint. For everything."

He smiled, did a little bow and left.

The princess turned back to her experiment, with renewed resolve, and continued her work.

It wasn't until hours later that the strain of the continuous standing and the moving of equipment started hindering her performance. Deciding not to risk making any mistakes by working herself too hard, she quickly finished the last experiment, wrote down the conclusions, and did the laborious process of cleaning up after the experiments and tidying up the lab.

After a few minutes, it was done, and she stretched, letting out a tired, but pleased, sigh. She made her way to her room, reviewing her notes on the way. It was amazing how much she had been able to discover on such a short time. Even though her rational side warned her of her eagerness, she couldn't lie to herself: she was sure she was going to find a cure. Nobody else would ever die from that horrible disease, no loved one would have to watch them perish, becoming tainted versions of themselves in the process, as the disease destroyed their body and mind. Nobody would have to go through what her parents did.

Those were Bubblegum's thoughts when she opened the door to her room, looked up from her research log, and saw Marceline floating in the air.

**Author's Note**

Whew, I almost didn't get this up in time! I got scared me for a while, not being able to get on the site and all.

Well, there you have it, chapter 3.2. Don't hate me. I already had about two more pages planned out, but figured a little cliffhanger couldn't hurt (who am I kidding, I totally did this to hurt you guys). But don't panic, I should have chapter 4 up earlier than next friday (NO PROMISES). I'm up to 21 followers, and I just wanna take a moment to thank all of you for your attention. We don't write fanfiction for profit, we do it for ourselves and our fellow fans, to give each other feels and such, and I'm glad I can provide you guys with that. Thank you for reading and bearing with me. You rock!


	5. Sound and Silence

The princess' mind was swept away by a wave of awareness. All her thoughts about her research, the disease, went away, replaced by the remembrance of the letter that now laid unopened at one of the tables in her lab.

Marceline was right before her, carelessly floating upside down as she was the last time they met in her room, holding a strawberry that was partially drained of its color. Marceline, her old friend, the person with whom she could be herself, with whom she didn't need to be the princess, or anything else. The person who had abandoned her for a week.

For days she suffered, wondering when she'd come back, _if_ she would come back. And then, when she finally managed to ignore her absence, by diving into her research, there was the letter, and she started spiraling down. Then the breakthrough happened, and she was the happiest she had been in a while, just to be confronted by her again.

It was like every time she got her emotions under control, that she set a new goal to keep her mind occupied, Marceline swooped in and ruined everything, making her feel sad and insecure.

The entire thought process happened in a few seconds of silence, that was broken when Marceline spoke:

"Hey, what's with the face? Don't I get a hug?"

She smiled playfully while she finished draining the red from the strawberry, dropping it in a bowl on the ground. She opened her arms and shifted her position, floating closer. When she noticed Bubblegum didn't respond, her expression changed to confusion, and she "stepped back", so to speak.

"What's wrong?" She said, in a truly innocent voice.

There was turmoil inside the princess. In the past few seconds, her thought process continued, and another part of her reminded her of all the times Marceline was there for her when nobody could. How she had comforted her after accidentally making her remember her father. But still, she had said she'd be back soon, and then left...

The princess bowed her head and the second silence was broken by the thud of the research log hitting the ground as she dropped it. The vampire came a little closer, and said:

"Bonnie, talk to me."

"Don't call me Bonnie!"

Her head was up, her eyes had tears, and her voice came out louder than intended. She tried to stare Marceline in the eyes, but the tears blurred her vision.

"How dare you show up after a _week_, and act like nothing's wrong? You said you'd be back soon! I waited for you! Every night, I-"

Her sentence was cut halfway through when she started sobbing. Marceline looked at her, astonished at first, and then worried. She reached for her shoulder, saying her name, but Bubblegum took a step back, trying to control herself so she could speak. One of her hands was clutching the side of her dress, a habit she thought she had lost a long time before.

"I thought- I-" she took a deep breath, letting out the rest of the sentence in a rush before giving in "I thought you'd be there for me!"

She started crying, with her free hand over her face. She was shaking as well, both in sadness and frustration, from all the anger she felt, and was unable to express.

She stood there, letting the emotion flow uncontrollably, her anger with Marceline mixed with the emptiness she felt from having lost her father, along with the old, well-known sadness of her mother's death. Then, she heard it. At first she couldn't recognize it over the noise she was making, but soon it was clear. It was a song, and one she knew very well.

She slowly stopped crying, opening her eyes to see Marceline floating by the bed, watching her guitar as her fingers fiddled with the chords, filling the air the known melody.

The princess stared, her hand gradually letting go of the side of her dress, as Marceline played the lullaby, _her_ lullaby, without looking up.

When it was done, the vampire lifted her head, and her apologetic eyes met the princess', which were filled with disbelief and surprise. Bubblegum stood there, stunned, her mouth slightly open, without making a sound. Marceline spoke:

"It was the only thing I could think of. Just like when you were a kid." She risked a little smile, still unsure of the reaction she'd get.

Bubblegum slowly sat down, gathering her thoughts. All she could say, after a moment, was:

"I can't believe you still remember it."

Marceline let out a little laugh, saying:

"I did write it, you know."

The princess sat there, taking deep breaths to recover from the crying. She slowly dried her tears on her sleeve and opened her mouth to say something, but didn't.

After it was clear she wouldn't talk, Marceline did:

"Bon—Um, Bubblegum, I—"

"You can call me Bonnie", the princess interrupted, her voice almost inaudible.

Marceline smiled, and went on:

"Bonnie, I'm sorry that you felt like I left you, it's just…" She stopped, carefully picking her words. "It's just that a week isn't that long for me. I've been around for a long time, and I just feel things different than you do. I forget how it's like for… for mortals."

She let out a sigh after the last word. She hated it, for it reminded her of the single thing that pained her the most, the one thought that she tried to keep away: all the people she cared for would die, eventually.

That was the reason she traveled so much, the reason she tried to be intimidating and avoided getting too close.

Sure, she had met a few immortals along the way, but they always proved to be disappointments or just convenience friends. There was her dad, but that was a whole other issue.

And so, despite knowing it would only make her suffer, she'd let herself befriend mortals, share their joy and sadness, only to have to say goodbye. In the end, it was always only sad, lonely Marceline, drifting from place to place, telling herself the next time would be different.

Bubblegum's voice snapped her out of her thoughts:

"A week is a long time for me, Marce." She said the childhood nickname without realizing it. "I needed you, and when you said you'd be back soon, I thought…" She left the sentence unfinished, still looking down at the carpeting of her room.

She heard the sound of the guitar being placed on the bed, and Marceline spoke:

"I know that now, and I'm sorry, I should've known, I just…" She struggled to find the right words. "I just didn't."

There was a pause; a silence filled with meaning.

"But I'll remember now, Bonnie." Marceline spoke again. "I'll be here for you…" Another pause. "If you still want me, that is."

There was another, longer pause, before Bubblegum answered, still not looking up:

"I just don't know. You come here, and you make me feel bad… But then you make it better, just to leave and make things worse. I don't know if it's worth it."

There was a moment of hesitation before Bubblegum heard Marceline floating to where she was sitting, stopping just before reaching her.

She sat in front of her, actually on the ground, and placed a hand on her arm, her cold fingers touching the sleeve, wet from the tears.

"Things will be different now. I'll be here for you, as long as you need me. I won't leave you, Bonnie."

She put emphasis on the last sentence, and when Bubblegum lifted her head to have her eyes meet Marceline's, she knew it to be true.

**Author's Note**

Oh the irony. I said I might post it before friday, and I almost don't get it out on time. I'll be sure to avoid making deadline promises from now on. Half of this chapter was written last night, waiting for The Dark Knight Rises screening to start. It's been a busy week, and I'm off to the beach for the weekend. Yeah, not a great author's note. Oh! Bubblegum's lullaby is a real song, and for a minute I pondered not telling you which one it was, but I'm not THAT mean: it's Safe and Sound, by Taylor Swift, for The Hunger Games trilogy. Even if you don't care for Taylor or THG, it's worth a listen, it's quite a beautiful song. **  
**

I'll warn you beforehand that I'm not sure if there will be a new chapter next week, so yeah, don't kill me (if you do that you won't get any new chapters ever). Thank you for reading, tell your friends if you liked it, tell your enemies if you didn't! If you're into great movies, watch Dark Knight Rises, and remember to get out of the house! (Or don't, who am I to tell you what to do).


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